Sponsored By KMS Partners

As the summer months end, we are seeing the home buying frenzy of the 2020 COVID year settle a bit, leaving higher sales prices and lower inventory in its wake. At the end of August there were just 158 single family homes for sale in Westport as compared to 395 in 2019 – down 60 percent. 

The median price of homes sold so far this year was $1.6 million. That is up by more than one-third compared to 2019. Andrew Texeira, mortgage loan officer with U.S. Bank remarks, “Escalated values seem to be the new normal, even from an appraisal standpoint. We are seeing very few low appraisals.”

The number of single-family homes sales this year – 413 – is up 72 percent from 2019; pending sales are up by almost half versus 2019.

Though sales thus far in 2021 are slightly higher than last year, the pace of growth is slowing. For the summer quarter, June, July and August, the number of closed sales was down 16 percent from last summer. “Purchase applications have steadied a bit over the past few months due to low inventory and buyer fatigue,” remarks Texeira.

The rise of the median-sales price, however, continues with homes closed this quarter up 13 percent from last summer. Days on market have continually improved, with homes spending an average of just 42 days on market, compared to 96 days for the same period of 2020. 

Fewer days on the market generally means homes are selling at or above the asking price. Homes sold this quarter went for an average of 100.4 percent of list price versus 98 percent last year and 97 percent in 2019. 

We still see some “bidding wars” taking the sales price above list price, but buyers are becoming a bit more discerning, paying up only for “shiny pennies” that are priced well. Getting a home ready for market to become that “shiny penny” often entails staging. According to Susan Tracy of House Whisperers, a local staging company, “sellers often see up to 400 percent return on investment from professionally staging their home.”

Texeira’s clients have increasingly employed “fully underwritten pre-approvals” to put them in the market with a commitment letter prior to finding that perfect home. Texeira adds, “This gives them an edge over those with just a simple pre-qualification or pre-approval letter.”  

With so few homes on the market, we do expect these eager, prepared buyers to “gobble up” the best of the current inventory, especially if we don’t see an abundance of new listings coming to market. 

Westport homes currently for sale range from a Crescent Park home priced at $429,000 to a Compo Cove stunner at $16.5 million. 

Currently, on the Westport housing market:

• 15 percent is priced under $1million
• 35 percent is in the $1-$2.5 million range 
• 32 percent is in the $2.5-$5 million range 
• 18 percent is over $5 million

(Note: KMS Partners has a business relationship with Westport Journal. KMS Partners at Compass Westport is an exclusive real estate partnership, serving Connecticut — Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Norwalk, Wilton and beyond. (203) 295-4375. www.kmspartners.com)